


By My Side

by HASA_Archivist



Category: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Fourth Age, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-18
Updated: 2015-04-18
Packaged: 2018-03-23 13:26:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3770060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HASA_Archivist/pseuds/HASA_Archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A couple of little vignettes, inspired by a lovely song I've heard.  Morning after stuff.</p>
            </blockquote>





	By My Side

**Author's Note:**

> Note from the HASA Transition Team: This story was originally archived at [HASA](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Henneth_Ann%C3%BBn_Story_Archive), which closed in February 2015. To preserve the archive, we began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in February 2015. We posted announcements about the move, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this author, please contact The HASA Transition Team using the e-mail address on the [HASA collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/hasa/profile).

By My Side...  


  
Love, if you say you won't slip away  
Then I will go dreaming of forever more  
But I won't rest until I know that you'll be here  
In the morning, by my side.  


  
I dread the dawn   
When I will wake and find you gone.  
Please tell me you will stay.  
Then sleep will come  
I know my love has found a home   
In your arms all my days.  


  
***  


  
It surprises me. He looks so innocent, lying here next to me. All the strain, the tension, the fatigue he has been carrying for all these years, all of it falls away as he sleeps. He looks so much younger. I see once again the person I fell in love with, the face which appeared in my dreams of nights. The face I saw in my Grandmother's mirror, all those centuries ago.   


  
Now the face and the Man who wears it lie beside me. I am encircled in his arms, I can feel his breath warm on my neck, feel the warmth of his body near mine.   


  
We have kindled a child this night. A child of my choosing, for I retain the gifts of my heritage while I live. A boy, I hope; an heir. For now my life must be measured, and my life will come to an end. I am bound to a completion, an ending. I have no doubt I will regret this. But not now. Not with my husband beside me, his breath warm on my neck, his arms embracing me, the memory of his hands all over me. Not with the warmth of him still within me.  


  
One day, this will not be possible. I know this, even as I try to ignore it. One day, this Man, so warm beside me now, will lie stiff and cold in death. Yet here and now, he is alive. Here and now, he is beside me. Here and now, I am loved, cherished, surrounded by his presence.   


  
Here and now, I will sleep, and dream of other nights, encircled in his arms.  


  
***  


  
She sleeps. Curled within the circle of my arms, she sleeps, the brilliance of her eyes hidden for now. I had hoped for this day, wished for it with every fibre of my being. My love. My wife. I can hardly believe this has happened.   


  
For a long time, my life has been a long litany of love and loss. First my father, although I can hardly remember him. Then so many different friends, so many companions. My mother chose to depart at a relatively young age for our kindred. Then the loss of Gandalf and Boromir on the quest, the loss of Halbarad at the Pelennor, even the loss of Denethor through his own despair. Although this is not the main reason I have wed her, I know this woman is going to outlive me. She will not be taken from me before time. Yet I also know the pain I will be inflicting upon her, when it is my time to leave. Bittersweet. The taste of our love, as it has always been. Yet for now, the sweet outweighs the bitter.  


  
The feeling of her next to me is a comfort I thought I would never feel. This night is an ending and a beginning, all in one. Watching the sun rise with her beside me is a wonderful way to start our new life.  


  
***  


  
[Author's Notes:  
  
1) The verses above are from a song called "Lullabye". I don't know who wrote it, but I do know the song can be found on the CD "Celtic Twilight 3: Lullabies", sold by the Hearts Of Space label.   
2) Yes, it's short. I write what the characters will say to me, and neither of the two involved here wanted to say too much about their wedding night.   
3) You can't guess who the couple is? Go back and read the books!] 


End file.
